The moon, October 5, 2020. -
Michael Probst / AP / SIPA
As part of the project to build the future lunar Gateway station, a Canadian astronaut will participate for the first time in 2023 in a flight in lunar orbit, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry announced on Wednesday.
"In 2023, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut will be part of Artemis II, the first mission to transport humans to lunar orbit in more than 50 years," Navdeep Bains said at a press conference .
The name of this astronaut is not known at the moment.
An alliance with NASA
The Canadian Space Agency and NASA signed a treaty on the Gateway space station, which provides, among other things, that a Canadian will be part of the crew of Artemis II, the first manned lunar mission since 1972. “Canada will thus be the second country - of all time - to send an astronaut into deep space, ”the minister then said in a tweet.
In February 2019, Canada announced that it had partnered with the US space agency Nasa to design the small Gateway station, which will serve as a relay during trips between Earth and its satellite.
A "new space strategy" for Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then indicated that Canada's participation in this NASA project was part of his country's “new space strategy”, which includes an investment of C $ 2.05 billion ( 1.4 billion euros) over 24 years.
NASA plans to assemble the Gateway station by 2026, which is to serve as a staging post for Earth-Moon travel and allow astronauts to venture onto the moon's surface.
The American space agency is targeting a return of astronauts to the Moon in 2024, 52 years after Eugene Cernan, the last man to have set foot on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission.
Science
Space conquest: Seven countries agree with the United States on the future exploration of the Moon
Science
Flights around the Moon: An agreement signed between the European Space Agency and NASA
Astronaut
Space
Moon
Science
Canada